Chapter 3 — The Enigma
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 5
With that, he reached back and with a "shing" drew the long sword from his back. The blade was clear as autumn water, bright without dazzling, a faint pure light clinging to its surface.
"A fine sword," Puzhao could not help crying out.
The man in black gave a low hum, gripped the sword in its fighting stance, trod the Seven Stars, took seven steps in succession, and thrust the long sword suddenly at the heavens, chanting under his breath:
"The Nine Heavens' Dark Spirits, transform into divine thunder.
August and dread heaven's majesty, by this sword be drawn!"
In an instant the clouds in the sky tumbled without cease, thunder rumbled, lightning flickered ever along the edges of the black clouds, and a killing stillness filled heaven and earth as a great wild wind arose.
"The True Art of the Divine Sword Summoning Thunder!" Puzhao's face went ashen in an instant, and with it came astonishment, a thread of despair, and a faint, inexplicable fervor.
"You are of the Canglan Sect!"
ps:
The "Om—ma—ni—pad—me—hum!" chanted by Puzhao in the text is the famous "Six-Syllable Great Bright Mantra," also known in Buddhist scriptures as the "True Word of Guanyin's Spiritual Response." The Buddhist canon records: this true word penetrates the workings of heaven and earth; recited, it frees one from the dust of the world, cleanses the mirror of the heart, and brings one to the realm of utmost joy and bliss. It is one of the most famous of all classical mantra incantations in Buddhism.
The full text is appended below:
Om mani padme hum, ma ha ni ya na, ji du te ba da, ji te xie na, wei da li ge, sa er han er ta, bu li xi ta ge, na bu luo na, na bu li, diu ban na, na ma lu ji, shuo luo ye sha ke.